Self-mutilating Peahen, anyone seen or heard of this?

[DylansMom]

Mindy, I have a 3 year old BSSP hen that does the same thing

I've had whites (both male and female) do this in the past. Only in winter, and never very severe.

Wondering if either of you ever came up with any theories on why they do it? It looks downright painful, and when I saw her yanking at her wing it had to hurt.

 

[snowshoe]

My hen came from Dennis and Wanda Erdman bought as a chick at 4 weeks old, Like Arbor she seems to only do it in the winter last year it was really noticeable with all the snow cover we had most of the winter.

 

[DylansMom]

My hen came from Dennis and Wanda Erdman bought as a chick at 4 weeks old, Like Arbor she seems to only do it in the winter last year it was really noticeable with all the snow cover we had most of the winter.

That's where my girl came from as well. I should give Wanda a call and see if she ever sees it in any of their breeders. I doubt that Arbor's whites could be related to our hens, but who knows. I know it gets so bad with my girl that I really worry each year that she is going to lose too much blood. I got Blue Kote to try, but yesterday I tripped and fell in the barn and now I pretty much hurt all over so I probably won't be trying to catch and spray her for a few days. The cement floor in the barn is great until you fall down on it really hard!

 

[bdfive]

DylansMom, how are you feeling today? We have to be very careful when wearing our Crock shoes. They slip so easily on our wet concrete porch.

Just wanted to chime in and say the BlueKote works for me to stop feather pulling. Have only had to use it a few times on older peachicks. Spray a good amount on and try to get it on the skin where maybe itching is occuring. It's medicated so may help it. The blue doesn't go away but eventually they molt stained feathers off and grow new. I've never had the problem with a peachick or peafowl pulling their own feathers....it's usually the others when they see something out of place and keep making it worse by pecking.

 

[DylansMom]

DylansMom, how are you feeling today? We have to be very careful when wearing our Crock shoes. They slip so easily on our wet concrete porch.

Just wanted to chime in and say the BlueKote works for me to stop feather pulling. Have only had to use it a few times on older peachicks. Spray a good amount on and try to get it on the skin where maybe itching is occuring. It's medicated so may help it. The blue doesn't go away but eventually they molt stained feathers off and grow new. I've never had the problem with a peachick or peafowl pulling their own feathers....it's usually the others when they see something out of place and keep making it worse by pecking.

I am still very sore, but improving daily, thank you for asking. I was just in a rush and while trying to navigate thru my hubby's tractor implements I caught my foot on a tow behind tiller and down I went. Luckily I managed to not fall on any of the sharp metal edges on those implements. I am hoping when DH gets home from work today we can catch her and paint her blue.

 

[bdfive]

I am still very sore, but improving daily, thank you for asking. I was just in a rush and while trying to navigate thru my hubby's tractor implements I caught my foot on a tow behind tiller and down I went. Luckily I managed to not fall on any of the sharp metal edges on those implements. I am hoping when DH gets home from work today we can catch her and paint her blue.

Soak the area of the skin well. Poor bird must be miserable in some way wanting to tear it's feathers out drawing blood. Wish I had a reason but have never researched it.

 

[MinxFox]

Not sure if Dany12 is suggesting a No-pick bit and blinders? Has anyone else seen this or used these successfully?

I can think of 2 cases that bits have been used. I am not sure about blinders, but I do know that Kelly of Read Mountain Peafowl has a few photos on his facebook page of a green peacock wearing a 'nose ring' to prevent feather picking. Just looking at photos of his birds, I don't see any missing feathers so I figure he has solved feather picking issues.
Here is one of the photos of Kelly's green peacock wearing the bit: https://www.facebook.com/2994761234...4ec4ddac4f3&size=720,960&fbid=300788653274561

Then at Rocking BAB last year the green peachicks got overcrowded and started to feather pick before they were moved to a larger pen, so they all had bits on. Kelly's device is more like a nose ring, but this one is like a ring that fits in the nose and goes around the top part of the beak.


Of course some people are against using bits or peepers (I myself don't like the idea), but I say if it helps prevent a bird from mutilating itself or others, it is worth a try. I would definitely use a bit if I had a bird with a feather picking issue. In both above cases the birds did not have to have the anti-pick device in forever. They had it removed once the issue was gone. Now how long you wait until taking the bit off I am not sure. I do know you have to keep an eye on it to make sure that the beak doesn't start forming around the bit or something, but I think that wouldn't happen if it was just a temporary thing for a little while.

Also as the others have mentioned I have heard about the Blue Kote and that it works well. I have never had to try it, but it sounds like another great option.
I am really curious about all this myself, so I decided to do some research. I found many parts of this Wikipedia article (I don't care what teachers say, I find that site to be very good) to be very interesting and it seems to offer more reasons why birds feather pick other than just space issues. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feather-plucking

Anyways, it mentions that because captive birds get their food instantly without having to search for it, they have all this extra time and that can lead to feather picking. Also a lack of enrichment such as leaves to scratch through can cause them to be bored and feather pick. It also talks about the possibility of feather plucking being genetic.

This was an interesting bit as well:
Quote:

 

[KsKingBee]

One of my two Amazon parrots feather picks, she has been doing it for over twenty years. I believe it is a skin issue, the dryer the air gets the more she will chew up her feathers. I have heard that the smarter birds will become bored and relieve their boredom by chewing. So I guess that she has two strikes against her as she has a fantastic vocabulary and loves to entertain.

Unfortunately, I don't think this relates to peafowl unless it is a skin issue. I will keep an eye on Nanu for any picking but so far I haven't seen him doing any picking.

Back in the eighties I used to raise pheasants and used the no pick specks but that was because they were picking on each other. They worked for that but I would never use them on a free-ranging pea.

Last year, way back in '014, one of our Royal Palms was attacked on her nest by probably a coyote and got really bad claw marks on her back. Nasty six inch gnashes that ran pretty deep and the feathers were gone as well. We kept Blue-Kote on her back and there was no one picking on her. I also used it on pheasants back when with good results against feather picking.

My vet also recommended we hang a flake of alfalfa bale in our pens to relieve boredom. She said that it is only natural for the peas to pick at things, giving them something to entertain themselves will keep them from not only picking on each other but from picking at dung on the ground which adds to sickness. We still have quite a few pumpkins that when they are not frozen rock solid help keep the birds entertained.

 

[TOP KNOT]

Could it be feather mites? Just a thought...

 

[DylansMom]

Could it be feather mites? Just a thought...

I suppose it could be just about anything, but I sell tons of feathers from our birds, this hen included and I know what mites look like, I've seen maybe 2 this year. We provide dust bathing areas and salt them with Sevin often, we also dust perches and sprinkle it on the wood shavings in the indoor pens. These mites are also more likely to be congregating on areas with a lot of fluffy down to help them stay warm, as they will die without the bird's body heat. They are rarely seen around wing feathers, in my experience anyway. I have Blue Koted, 2 days ago I think, and she is still picking, but not as severely. I've found small fresh blood spots under her perch each day, but they are small, quarter size spots.